The Armenians, who recognised Christianity as their state religion at the begining of the fourth century, have long maintained an independent Christian tradition. Living on the eastern border of Byzantium, they frequently installed imposing stone cross called Khatchkars as memorials to the dead and to mark the location of significant events during the medieval period. The elaborate interlace frame on this Khatchkars contains a monumental cross resting on the heads of the four evangalists, the authors of the Gospels. The large head of Saint Mattew's angel presides over the smaller heads of Saint Mark's lion, Saint Luke's ox (on its side), and Saint John's eagle(in profile). The Khatchkar is from northern Armenia, a region that fell to the Mongols in the early century, soon after the Khatchkar was carved.

Courtesy : The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Keywords: cross-Armenia, Aremenian cross

008-186

The Reform of the Sacraments
of Initiation

The initial part of Orientalium Ecclesiarum (1-11) focuses mainly on certain ecclesiological and canonical issues, and the articles that follow (OE 12-23) deal with sacramental and liturgical disciplines. This latter set of articles starts with the rules regarding the Sacraments of Initiation, particularly in OE 12-14. This study concentrates on these three articles of OE, and its impact and implementation in the Syro-Malabar Church.

This booklet is a precious relic from the past. It comes from the transitional period in the history of the Syro Malabar liturgy in Kerala in the 1960s. The Syro Malabar Church introduced the Malayalam version of Qurbana in 1962. The Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, however, continued to be celebrated in Syriac. Fr. Abel Periyapuram, CMI (1920-2001) prepared a Malayalam version of the text and ritual for Benediction in 1968. What we see here is the digital version of the first edition of a 16-page booklet (10.5 cms x 7.2 cms) with the songs, prayers and the ritual for Benediction. Fr. Abel gave the title in Malayalam as Parišuddha qurbānyuṭe wāzhwu (Blessing of the Holy Qurbana).

There are five songs in the booklet. Fr. Abel did not make a verbatim translation of the original Latin text or their Syriac translations (See Aramaic Project-126,) but used them only as a reference. There is one exception. The second song, Akhila lōka nāyakā (Lord of all the world, p.3) is a faithful translation of the Resurrection Hymn (Lāku mārā) from the Eucharistic liturgy in Syriac. The Syriac version of the Benediction, however, did not include this chant. It was Fr. Abel's decision to incorporate this chant as part of the incensing the Monstrance. The third song (p. 11), Swargathil ninnāgathamām (That which came from Heaven), Fr. Abel uses the famous Latin chant, Tantum Ergo, as a source of inspiration. The fourth song, Parišuddha šarīrathālum (By the Holy Body, p. 12), is a free translation of the prayer in Latin, Panem de caelo. In contrast, the final song, Daiwathe wāzhthiṭuwin (pp. 14-15), is a close translation of the final hymn, Laudes Divine (the Divine Praises), in the Latin version of the Benediction. Overall, the prayers and chants of the Malayalam version of the Benediction are Fr. Abel’s free creation.

Fr. Abel employed Shri K. K. Antony (1924-1987), Music Director of Kalabhavan, to compose melodies for the five songs. Antony Master composed songs in the style of popular movie-songs in Malayalam and recorded them with instrumental accompaniment on a spool tape and made them available to the church choirs across Kerala. In the following year (1969), Fr. Abel asked the talented composer, Rafi Jose, to compose a different set of melodies for these songs and included a musical transcription Rafi’s melodies in staff notation in the book Gānādhyāpakan.

Cardinal Joseph Parecattil (1912-1987) gave imprimatur, ad experimentum, to the booklet on 10 August 1968. The songs and the ritual became instantly popular, and continue to the present day, all over the Syro Malabar communities. No one has attempted to create a different version of the Malayalam text yet.

Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is one of the paraliturgical practices in the Latin rite that the Portuguese missionaries introduced among the Catholics in Kerala in the sixteenth century. The Syro Malabar Catholics refused to use the original chants in Latin. Instead, they translated the chants into Syriac and continued to use the Syriac version until 1968. So the history of this pious paraliturgical practice extends over several centuries and multiple countries and their respective cultures.

If my memory serves me right, Fr. Joseph Kunthara, CMI, gave me this booklet in 1968. Fr. Kunthara, who was a friend of Fr. Abel, was also a musically talented person and a promoter of Christian music. I was a student at the St. Joseph’s Postulant’s Home at Kalamassery. We, the choir members, used copies of this booklet to sing for benediction almost every Sunday as well as special occasions at the Sacred Heart Provincial House chapel. Subsequently, we memorized the songs and did not need the booklet. For some reason, I held on to this copy during all these years of my sojourn in various parts of India and the USA. I plan to give the hard copy to Felix Simon for safe keep. He is free to hand it over to the Library of Congress at some point in time. I dedicate the digital version of this copy to future historians of the music of the Syro Malabar Catholics.

Manuscript of Malayalam songs of Cochin Jews photocopied from the collection of Jacob and Sarah Cohan Jew Town, Cochin. Dt. 16 October 1995. Contains songs texts in Malayalam script for various occasions and celebrations, including weddings. The last two pages contain a note in English that indicates that the manuscript was prepared before the creation of the nation-state of Israel in 1948.

Field Report and notes (Dt. Oct 18,1995) by Dr. Joseph J. Palackal about Kerala Jews settled in Cochin.The report describes the customs and traditions followed by Jews settled in North Paravoor, Ernakulam.

Reclaiming Syriac Chants to Reaffirm Identity: An American Story

The Syriac heritage of the Syro Malabar Church is an essential component of the cultural fabric of India. The St. Thomas Christians had the privilege of receiving the faith directly from the Aramaic-speaking Apostle Thomas. Probably, the early converts learned the original version of the Lord’s Prayer, which, in effect, is the entire Gospel in a nutshell, in the Galilean Aramaic from the Apostle. The exuberant outburst of the Apostle --- Mār walāh (“My Lord and my God”)--- would have been enough for a functioning Creed. All these happened before the Christian Aramaic (i.e., Syriac) bifurcated into two different traditions --- East Syriac (Chaldean) and West Syriac (Antiochene)--- by about the sixth century A.D. Due to particular historical trajectories, the St. Thomas Christians continued the East Syriac tradition until the early eighteenth century. Two of the eight independent churches among the St. Thomas Christians, the Syro Malabar Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, continued the liturgy in East Syriac until the middle of the twentieth century. As a result of the vernacularization of the liturgy, the sound the East Syriac language is gradually fading from the memories of the Syro Malabar Catholics. Ironically, the Syriac language continues to be a marker of identity in the name of the “Syro” (i. e., Syriac) Malabar Church. Due to the sheer negligence of the so-called Syro Malabar Catholics, the intangible cultural heritage of the world is being lost to humanity under our watch.

It is in this context that Fr. Joseph Palackal, CMI, stepped forward with the idea of the Aramaic Project, an internet-based library and archive, to preserve and propagate the sound, melodies, and memories of the Syriac language. Three years after the launch of the website, the CNN research team working on the Hollywood-style production of “Doubting Thomas” (the final episode of Finding Jesus: Faith, Facts, and Forgery) discovered Fr. Palackal and invited him to make a guest appearance in the program. He was the only resource person from Kerala to appear on the show. Last year, the American Library of Congress took note of the mission of Fr. Palackal and invited him to deliver the Benjamin Botkin Lecture 2018. The Library also documented an interview with Fr. Palackal .

Beyond the academic arena, Fr. Palackal has been working on to give life to the sound of the East Syriac language by introducing Syriac chants to church choirs in the United States. The new generation of Syro Malabar Catholics in the USA are responding positively to Fr. Palackal's idea and have started using Syriac chants as a means to reconnect with their past and reclaim their identity. By doing so, they may even change the conventional discourse on both India and Christianity, and change the linguistic soundscape of the United States of America. What follows is a report on the recent developments in the USA.

A new chapter is evolving in the history of East-Syriac chants among the expatriate Syro Malabar communities in North America. The idea of a bilingual (English/Syriac) Qurbana is gaining traction, especially among the Syro Malabar youth. It all started with an experiment that Fr. Joseph Palackal, CMI initiated during the solemn celebration of Qurbana at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., on September 7, 2013. The occasion was the 16th annual pilgrimage to Our Lady of Good Health, Velankanni (there is a chapel dedicated to Annai Velankanni at this shrine). India Catholic Association organizes this annual event, which is open to Catholics who migrated from the Indian subcontinent. In 2013, encouraged by Dr. Varghese Kannarkatt (1936-2017), the India Catholic Association agreed to have the Syro Malabar Qurbana in English with the musical setting by Fr. Joseph Palackal, CMI, and George Thaila . Major Archbishop Cardinal George Alencherry was the celebrant with Cardinal George Wurel, the Archbishop of Washington, D. C. as co-celebrant. Fr. Palackal sought permission from Cardinal Alencherry in advance to introduce two Syriac chants: Puqdankon and Qandisa Alaha (see the correspondence). The choir consisted of 120 youngsters from the Syro Malabar communities across America. This was the first time the sound of Syriac chants reverberated inside the largest Catholic edifice in North America. This was also the first time most of the American-born Syro Malabar youngsters heard and sang Syriac chants. In subsequent years, Syriac chants became a topic of conversation. Whenever and wherever Fr. Palackal got an opportunity to celebrate solemn Qurbana in English in different parts of the USA, he tried to repeat what he did in Washington, D.C. Slowly, the seeds that were sown in Washington, D. C. started flowering.

The echoes of the Syriac chants traveled from the Basilica first to the suburbs of D. C. to St. Jude Syro Malabar Catholic Church in Northern Virginia. This is the home parish of Felix Simon, the co-founder of the Aramaic Project. The parish priest accepted the suggestion of Felix and allowed the First Communion children to learn the solemn form of the Lord’s prayer in Syriac, in 2014. The children sang the prayer in the traditional tune, after receiving communion (see Aramaic Project 21 ; Aramaic Project-21A ). In the following year, the First Communion children chanted the simple tune. The parish continues to incorporate Syriac chants into the celebration of Qurbana on the day of First Communion. The parish went a step further in 2018. On May 26, 2018, the First Communion children started the Eucharistic celebration by singing the famous Christological hymn,”Sagdinan Mar ,” and reiterating their faith in the undivided humanity and divinity of Jesus, in the words of words of Mar Babai the Great ca. (551-628.

Currently, several Syro Malabar communities in America sing the Resurrection Hymn (Laku Mara) and the Trisagion (Qandisa Alaha) in Syriac. Ironically, the younger generation is more at home with singing Syriac chants. They do not seem to have the mental inhibition and emotional apathy that their parents have toward Syriac chants. Some of the youngsters see this as a way of connecting with the history of their forefathers and as a way to reclaim their identity. The church choirs are making extensive use of the resources available on the website for the Aramaic Project under the Christian Musicological Society of India.

The Syro Malabar convention 2019 at Hotel Hilton in Houston, Texas (August 1-4), was remarkable for the use of Syriac chants. Syriac chants were part of the celebration of Qurbana on all the four days of the Convention; on the first, and the final days, the Qurbana was in Malayalam and the other days in English. The two choirs that sang for the Qurbana were equally comfortable in singing Syriac chants. On the final day, the choir sang Sagdinan Mar as gathering song and Bar Maryam as the concluding song. Remarkably, the missal prepared for this occasion included Syriac chants in Malayalam and English transliteration. It was a semi-official recognition of the efforts of Fr. Palackal, who was a guest lecturer at the Convention. On the third day of the Convention, Bishop Joy Alappat, Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago, publically acknowledged Fr. Palackal’s contribution to the Syro Malabar Church in North America .

The table below shows a partial list of celebrations that included Syriac chants in different parts of America in the recent past.

If this trend continues, the nature of Syro Malabar liturgy might change considerably in the distant future. The advantage is that the next generation will be able to learn theology through chants. In the Syriac era, liturgical texts also served as catechetical tools. The prime examples are the Christological chants, Sagdinan Mar , and Bar Maryam . Such chant texts defy translation, especially into the Malayalam poetic-rhythmic meters. The Syro Malabar Church pushed such chants into oblivion. That was an easy solution, not a productive one.

The young Syro Malabar Catholics, who appear in the Aramaic Project videos 147, Aramaic Project-148 , and Aramaic Project-150 , give us hope by expressing their willingness to own the Syriac heritage that their parents’ generation disowned. By singing Syriac chants, the Syro Malabar youth will alter the linguistic sound map of North America and also contribute to preserving an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. It is possible that in the distant future, the sound of East Syriac may fade from the memories of the Syro Malabar Catholics in Kerala and survive among the expatriate communities in America.

The three founding Fathers of the CMI Congregation, who happened to be Malpan-s, will have a hearty conversation in heaven!

The table in (pdf format) a partial list of celebrations that included Syriac chants in different parts of America in the recent past. Date/Location/Church Celebrants

(Pdf download)

If this trend continues, the nature of Syro Malabar liturgy might change considerably in the distant future. The advantage is that the next generation will be able to learn theology through chants. In the Syriac era, liturgical texts also served as catechetical tools. The prime examples are the Christological chants, Sagdinan Mar and Bar Maryam. Such chant texts defy translation, especially into the Malayalam poetic-rhythmic meters. The Syro Malabar Church pushed such chants into oblivion. That was an easy solution, not a productive one.

These pages are from the missalette that was in use at the celebration of Qurbana at the Syro Malabar Convention (August 1-4), 2019, in Houston, Texas. What is noteworthy is the inclusion of the original Syriac text of the Resurrection Hymn (Lāku Mārā) and the Trisagion (Qandiśā Alāhā) in Malayalam transliteration, along with their Malayalam versions that are currently in use. Although both Syriac and Malayalam versions are in the missalette, the Syriac version was the choice of the celebrants and choir on all four days of the Convention. It was a remarkable choice, because gradually the Syriac versions, both text and melody, are becoming part of the celebrations of Qurbana among the Syro Malabar communities in North America. The church choirs are becoming more and more comfortable with these chants. It is one of the positive outcomes from introducing Syriac chants in the celebration of Qurbana at the National Shrine and Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D. C. on September 7, 2013. That was also the year in which the Christian Musicological Society of India embarked on the Aramaic Project. The church choirs have started using the resource materials that are available on the website. If this trend catches on, the nature of Syro Malabar liturgy might undergo a significant change in the distant future.

Here is the digital copy of a first-class relic in the beautiful handwriting of Fr. Abel Periyappuram, CMI (1920-2001), who played a pivotal role in the gradual transition of the liturgy of the Syro Malabar Church from Syriac to Malayalam in the 1960s. These pages contain the text of a total of 28 chants in the Malayalam script. Nineteen of those chants are in Syriac and nine in Malayalam. Fr. Abel wrote down these chants in preparation for an audio recording. The recording took place at the Kalabhavan recording studio in the second week of December in 1997.

Fr. Abel did the recording in response to my request. By early 1997, I had decided on the topic of my doctoral dissertation: “Syriac chant traditions in India” (Palackal 2005). To represent the East-Syriac part of the tradition, I chose to study the model melodies that are currently in use in the Hours of the Syro Malabar liturgy. It was Fr. Abel , with the help of Fr. Ludovic Kunianthodath, CMI (1888-1979), who prepared the Malayalam version of the Hours. In the process, Fr. Abel made a choice that had a far-reaching effect in the history of Christian music in India. Fr. Abel decided to retain the original melodies of the Syriac text and adjust the vernacular text to the meter and contours of the melodies of the original Syriac text.

Out of the Several Syriac melodic patterns, Fr. Abel chose twenty-three model melodies and used them in the translated texts of the Hours. I wanted to include a transcription of these melodies in staff notation (see chapter six in my doctoral dissertation). The best source was Fr. Abel himself. I requested Fr. Abel to prepare a recording of the melodies in his voice. We had known and respected each other since my seminary days. After my music studies in Baroda, Fr. Abel invited me to join him at Kalabhavan as Dean of Studies. In fact, it was Fr. Abel who suggested the idea of my going for higher studies in America with the understanding that I would take over his responsibilities in due course (obviously, that did not happen).

Fr. Abel agreed to make the recording. He copied down the text from a Syriac breviary that he borrowed from Fr. Mathias Mundadan, CMI who, at that time, was in the process of establishing a library in honor of the saintly Palackal Thoma Malpan. Fr. Abel used the manuscript to sing at the recording studio.

Fortunately, after the recording Fr. Abel did not discard the pages, instead kept them safe and handed them over to me. He also wrote a letter to me with a few comments on the chants. The letter is dated 15 December 1997. Interestingly, Fr. Abel wrote the chant texts on the blank-side of unused flyers announcing a public event that Kalabhavan organized to honor him. Fr. Abel cut the flyer into two equal halves of 14.5cms x 22.5 cms (Using the scrap paper was one of the many ways in which Fr. Abel practiced his vow of poverty). The personal letter, however, was written on the official letterhead of Kalabhavan (14cms x 22.5 cms).the letter contains an in important piece of information on the rhythmic aspect of Syriac and Malayalam versions of chants. Fr. Abel writes, പൺട് നമ്മൾ സുറിയാനിയിൽ പാടിയിരുന്നപ്പോൾ താളം പാലിച്ചിരുന്നില്ല. മലയാളത്തിലായപ്പോൾ കുറെയൊക്കെ താളമുൺട്.“In the past when we used to sing in Syriac, we did not keep rhythm. In the Malayalam version, we keep rhythm to some extent.” In two simple sentences, Fr. Abel hinted a topic of a comparative/analytical study of the application of rhythm in the Syriac and Malayalam versions of chants.

I cherish this manuscript as a relic and plan to hand it over to Felix Simon, the Cofounder of the Aramaic Project. The recording is available on our YouTube channel in Aramaic Project-11 . See another recording in Aramaic Project-14 . These recordings, which document both his speaking and singing voices, are a precious treasure from a great man in the cultural history of Kerala.

Copyright - All rights reserved, Reproduction in any manner, in whole or part, without prior written permission prohibited. Editor: Fr. Sebastian Thekkedathu CMI Printed and Published by Fr. Sebastian Thekkedathu for the CMI General Secretariat for Media and Communication, Reproduction in any manner, in whole or part, without prior written permission prohibited.

"An East Syriac mass lead by Fr. Cyril Thayil was held at the old St. George's Church at Edappally held on 01 May, 2019. The whole rubric is followed in East Syriac, a dialect that developed out of Aramaic with little influence from other neighbouring languages in West Asia, says Father Thayil, a young language enthusiast, who wants to see at least parts of the old traditions live into the future." ...... Read more